


Mistake / A visitor in the small town

by Avanotave



Series: Fire Emblem Ficlets [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, M/M, Post-Black Eagles Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), based off a taiwanese poem, felix is only alluded to, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28069833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avanotave/pseuds/Avanotave
Summary: A search, nearly six years later
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Series: Fire Emblem Ficlets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056266
Kudos: 3





	Mistake / A visitor in the small town

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if you find any grammar mistakes cause I suck at proofreading oop

The once-Faerghan streets were desolate and empty. Not even a sliver of candlelight shone.

One lone man slowly steered his horse into the street. Most of his pale skin was wrapped in a dark grey cloak, leaving only the upper half of his face and a shock of red hair to be seen. His pace was slow and mournful, the clopping of his horse's hooves like a funeral procession.

Yet most of the Faerghans spying from their tightly-shut windows could identify him with one look.

_ The Gautier, yes, the one who betrayed our country and sided with that Emperor. _

_ What is he doing in old Fraldarius territory? _

_ Is it...to clean up the rest of us? _

_ No! It can’t be, he doesn’t have that cursed lance with him. _

_ Do you really think that a seasoned soldier like him can’t kill without a special lance? _

Yet as he clopped slowly past the house at the far end of the street, the curtains were flung open. The horse startled at the sudden light, rearing up a few inches. Sylvain clung on tightly to the reins, staring at the lady in the window. For a moment, her face was filled with excitement and anticipation, almost as if she were waiting for something, for  _ someone, _ to come back. The next moment, her expression fell into the deep recesses of disappointment and sorrow, and she slammed the window shut, sealing the curtains once again.

Sylvain sighed and his breath filtered through the cloth, creating a puff of air in the cold night.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. Sorry, for getting her hopes up. Sorry, that she would probably never see the one she was waiting for again. Sorry, that he may have killed the one she was waiting for. Sorry, for everything. “I’m just passing by...”

He reached the next town, a much larger area with a canal stretched across its length. Here he settled his horse in the nearby inn and rented a boat.

The dark, rippling water tied a knot with the barely-visible shadow of the bridge as he rowed past. Dark, pitch-black water that reflected nothing, not even the just-greening bushes lining the canal. It was better that way. Sylvain didn’t want to see what he looked like after a week's worth of non-stop riding.

He docked the boat in front of an alley and climbed back onto solid land. The cobblestone-paved road clinked with each step, deafeningly loud in the silent, heavy night. 

The alleyway twisted and turned, leading further and further from the waning moon's light until it ended in a rusty black gate. two dirtied brass door knockers hung on each side. Sylvain slowed his steps until he inevitably reached the gate. He stared at the brass door knockers--plain in design, just a simple loop with a slight, pointed adornment facing down--for a minute, wondering. 

_ This the last place he could be. My last chance.  _

He raised a hand and raised the door knocker, striking thrice. The echoing booms hung in the night like church bells announcing death. 

Silence. 

The cloudy sky shed its tears like flowers falling at the end of a bloom.

**Author's Note:**

> If you happen to recognize it, yes this is very closely based on two poems, "Mistake (錯誤)" and "Visitor at a Small Town (客來小城)" by Taiwanese poet Zheng Chouyu! I actually really like the first poem, "mistake". These two were part of a lesson in my Chinese textbook, and they're both worth a read. Please ignore my shitty translations of their titles I suck at translations. 
> 
> Anyways Sylvix is a perfect pairing for angst like they're just so easy to write angst for but also so easy to write fluff for, their range....impeccable.....
> 
> Come yell at me about them on Twitter at @/ semitheres, though I usually just complain about everything there like every other teen on the internet oop
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
